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Wasn't BLM throwing molotovs and trying to overtake a federal court a few months ago, for like a week straight? I didn't see a single media outlet call that a c

Wasn't BLM throwing molotovs and trying to overtake a federal court a few months ago, for like a week straight? I didn't see a single media outlet call that a coup. Weird.

function_seven 6y ago
Because that wouldn't be a coup. The word means something pretty specific. Seizing control of the government. Not a courthouse, not a police station, or any other individual agency. The entire government. In this case, that was the goal. Keep the losing presidential candidate in power.
- slowmotiony 6y ago
  Sudden: check Violent: check Illegal: check Attempt to sieze power from a government: check
  - function_seven 6y ago
    Attempt to seize the government: No check.
    - slowmotiony 6y ago
      I see the goalpost has been moved then, only took one post. Okay.
      - function_seven 6y ago
        So what may be confusing is the term. The full term is coup d'état It specifically refers to the overthrow of a government. Trashing a single courthouse comes nowhere close to that. The goal is power. Taking power from your political enemy and securing it for yourself. The word coup by itself has a broader definition, but is usually used as a compliment. Such as "Heather just closed a $30mm deal with Acme Corp. Her entire sales team scored a coup with that sales pitch" But when used in the context of gun-toting insurrectionists? "Coup" is shorthand for the full phrase. Coup d'état.
      - ashtonkem 6y ago
        No, OP was very clear about what the word “coup” meant from the beginning. You don’t get to decry “moving the goal posts” when everyone demands that you put the goalposts back after you moved them.
kadoban 6y ago
What federal court was BLM trying to overtake?
- slowmotiony 6y ago
  Federal courthouse in Portland, here's the source and some pictures. https://ktvz.com/news/crime-courts/2020/07/24/fires-set-inside-portland-federal-courthouse-fence-18-arrested-on-federal-charges/ https://ktvz.com/news/crime-courts/2020/07/24/fires-set-insi...
ashtonkem 6y ago
They didn’t call it an attempted coup, because it wasn’t. The definition of coup is not “attack on the government”; it’s an attempt to take over the government by force. There is no plausible path to take over the government by seizing a courthouse. Even if they’d successfully held it, they would have no real power over any territory outside the building. Disruptive, yes, but not a power grab. Arguably some of the stuff happening with the autonomous zone wasn’t a coup attempt, it was an attempt at secession. A stupid and doomed attempt, I’ll agree, but a different thing altogether. There is a plausible path from taking over Congress while they’re certifying the electoral college and declaring the next president and power. I’ll admit that it’s not a likely outcome, but it’s plausible. It wouldn’t be the first time a government has been toppled by a mob taking over the legislature, ask France. If they’d succeeded they would have re-installed Trump contrary to the will of the voters, the rule of law, and the constitution. Hence, coup attempt.

Wasn't BLM throwing molotovs and trying to overtake a federal court a few months ago, for like a week straight? I didn't see a single media outlet call that a coup. Weird.

function_seven 6y ago

Because that wouldn't be a coup. The word means something pretty specific. Seizing control of the government. Not a courthouse, not a police station, or any other individual agency. The entire government. In this case, that was the goal. Keep the losing presidential candidate in power.

slowmotiony 6y ago
Sudden: check Violent: check Illegal: check Attempt to sieze power from a government: check
- function_seven 6y ago
  Attempt to seize the government: No check.
  - slowmotiony 6y ago
    I see the goalpost has been moved then, only took one post. Okay.
    - function_seven 6y ago
      So what may be confusing is the term. The full term is coup d'état It specifically refers to the overthrow of a government. Trashing a single courthouse comes nowhere close to that. The goal is power. Taking power from your political enemy and securing it for yourself. The word coup by itself has a broader definition, but is usually used as a compliment. Such as "Heather just closed a $30mm deal with Acme Corp. Her entire sales team scored a coup with that sales pitch" But when used in the context of gun-toting insurrectionists? "Coup" is shorthand for the full phrase. Coup d'état.
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      No, OP was very clear about what the word “coup” meant from the beginning. You don’t get to decry “moving the goal posts” when everyone demands that you put the goalposts back after you moved them.

kadoban 6y ago

What federal court was BLM trying to overtake?

slowmotiony 6y ago
Federal courthouse in Portland, here's the source and some pictures. https://ktvz.com/news/crime-courts/2020/07/24/fires-set-inside-portland-federal-courthouse-fence-18-arrested-on-federal-charges/ https://ktvz.com/news/crime-courts/2020/07/24/fires-set-insi...

ashtonkem 6y ago

They didn’t call it an attempted coup, because it wasn’t. The definition of coup is not “attack on the government”; it’s an attempt to take over the government by force. There is no plausible path to take over the government by seizing a courthouse. Even if they’d successfully held it, they would have no real power over any territory outside the building. Disruptive, yes, but not a power grab. Arguably some of the stuff happening with the autonomous zone wasn’t a coup attempt, it was an attempt at secession. A stupid and doomed attempt, I’ll agree, but a different thing altogether. There is a plausible path from taking over Congress while they’re certifying the electoral college and declaring the next president and power. I’ll admit that it’s not a likely outcome, but it’s plausible. It wouldn’t be the first time a government has been toppled by a mob taking over the legislature, ask France. If they’d succeeded they would have re-installed Trump contrary to the will of the voters, the rule of law, and the constitution. Hence, coup attempt.